There is growing interest in high-quality projection systems that display three-dimensional (3D) or perceived stereoscopic content in order to offer consumers an enhanced visual experience in large venues. Although a number of entertainment companies have offered stereoscopic content in theaters, theme parks, and other venues, these companies have primarily employed film media for stereoscopic image presentation. To create the stereo image, two sets of films are loaded to two separate projection apparatus, one for each eye. Left- and right-eye images are then simultaneously projected using polarized light. One polarization is used for the image presented to the left eye; light of the orthogonal polarization is then used for the image presented to the right eye. Audience members wear corresponding orthogonally polarized glasses that block one polarized light image for each eye while transmitting the orthogonal polarized light image.
In the ongoing transition of the motion picture industry to digital imaging, some vendors, such as Imax, have continued to utilize a two-projection system to provide a high quality stereo image. More commonly, however, conventional projectors have been modified to enable 3D projection.
The most promising of these conventional projection solutions for multicolor digital cinema projection employ, as image forming devices, one of two basic types of spatial light modulators (SLMs). The first type of spatial light modulator is the Digital Light Processor (DLP) a digital micromirror device (DMD), developed by Texas Instruments, Inc., Dallas, Tex. DLPs have been successfully employed in digital projection systems. DLP devices are described in a number of patents, for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,791; U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,047; U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,383 (all to Hornbeck).
FIG. 1 shows a simplified block diagram of a projector apparatus 10 that uses DLP spatial light modulators. A light source 12 provides polychromatic unpolarized light into a prism assembly 14, such as a Philips prism, for example. Prism assembly 14 splits the polychromatic light into red, green, and blue component wavelength bands and directs each band to a corresponding spatial light modulator 20r, 20g or 20b. Prism assembly 14 then recombines the modulated light from each of the spatial light modulators 20r, 20g and 20b and provides this unpolarized light to a projection lens 29 for projection onto a display screen or other suitable surface.
DLP-based projectors demonstrate the capability to provide the necessary light throughput, contrast ratio, and color gamut for most projection applications from desktop to large cinema. However, there are inherent resolution limitations, with existing devices typically providing no more than 2148×1080 pixels. In addition, high component and system costs have limited the suitability of DLP designs for higher-quality digital cinema projection. Moreover, the cost, size, weight, and complexity of the Philips prism or other suitable combining prisms are significant constraints. In addition, the need for a relatively fast projection lens with a long working distance, due to brightness requirements, negatively impacts the acceptability and usability of these devices.
The second type of spatial light modulator used for digital projection is the LCD (Liquid Crystal Device). The LCD forms an image as an array of pixels by selectively modulating the polarization state of incident light for each corresponding pixel. LCDs appear to have some advantages as spatial light modulators for high-quality digital cinema projection systems. These advantages include relatively large device size, favorable device yields and the ability to fabricate higher resolution devices, for example 4096×2160 resolution devices available from Sony and JVC Corporations. Among examples of electronic projection apparatus that utilize LCD spatial light modulators are those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,808,795 (Shimomura et al.) and elsewhere. LCOS (Liquid Crystal On Silicon) devices are thought to be particularly promising for large-scale image projection. However, with LCD components it can be difficult to maintain the high quality demands of digital cinema, particularly with regard to color and contrast, since the high thermal load of high brightness projection affects polarization qualities of these devices.
Conventional methods for forming stereoscopic images from these conventional micro-display (DLP or LCOS) based projectors use either of two primary techniques to distinguish between the left and right eye content. One less common technique, utilized by Dolby Laboratories, for example, uses color space separation, as described in US Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0127121 by Maximus et. al. and elsewhere. Filters are utilized in the white light illumination system to momentarily block out portions of each of the primary colors for a portion of the frame time. For example, for the left eye, the lower wavelength spectrum of Red, Blue, and Green (RGB) is blocked for a period of time. This alternates with blocking the higher wavelength spectrum of Red, Blue, and Green (RGB) for the other eye. The appropriate color adjusted stereo content that is associated with each eye is then presented to each modulator for the eye. The viewer wears a corresponding filter set that similarly transmits only one of the two 3-color (RGB) spectral sets. The color separation approach enjoys some advantages over a polarization based projection approach. For example, images can be projected onto most screens without the requirement to use a more expensive polarization-maintaining screen. There are also disadvantages, however. The needed glasses are expensive. Viewing quality can be reduced by normal angular shift, head motion, and tilt. Additionally, adjustment of the color space can be difficult and there can be significant light loss due to filtering. Because of this, a higher lamp output may be needed or output image brightness reduced.
The second method for forming stereoscopic images uses polarized light. In the example embodiment of U.S. Pat. No. 6,793,341 to Svardal et al. and elsewhere, each of two orthogonal polarization states is delivered to a corresponding one of two separate spatial light modulators. Polarized light from both modulators is then projected simultaneously. The viewer wears polarized glasses with polarization transmission axes for left and right eyes orthogonally oriented with respect to each other. Although this arrangement offers efficient use of light, it can be an expensive configuration. This can be particularly true in projector designs that require a spatial light modulator for each color band.
Another approach, commercialized by Real-D, Beverly Hills, Calif., uses a conventional projector modified to modulate alternate polarization states that are rapidly switched from one to the other. This can be done, for example, where a DLP projector has a polarizer placed in the output path of the light, such as at a position 16 indicated by a dashed line in FIG. 1. The polarizer is required, since the DLP is not inherently designed to maintain the polarization of the input light, which is generally unpolarized, as the window of the device package depolarizes due to stress induced birefringence. An achromatic polarization switcher, similar to the type described in US application 2006/0291053 by Robinson et al. could be disposed at position 16 after the polarizer. A switcher of this type alternately rotates polarized light between two orthogonal polarization states, such as linear polarization states, to allow the presentation of two distinct images, one to each eye, while the user views the projected images with polarized glasses.
Real-D systems historically have utilized left and right circularly polarized light, where the glasses are made of a combination ¼ wave retarder plus a polarizer to change the circularly polarized light back to linearly polarized light before blocking one state. This arrangement appears to be less sensitive to head tilt and the achromatic polarization switcher is easier to fabricate. The glasses, however, add expense over embodiments that simply use a polarizer. In either case, the display screen must substantially maintain the polarization state of the incident image-bearing light and is, therefore, typically silvered. With such MEMS-based systems, there can be significant light loss, resulting from the requirement to use polarized light, which can reduce output light by half over conventional non-stereoscopic designs. There is additional cost due to the large polarization switcher as well as the alignment features and mounting to the front of the projections system. This system must be flexible in order to accommodate the variety of projectors that may be retrofitted. The polarization switcher design is also more complicated in that it must essentially handle the entire visible spectral band, retarding the light in equal amounts regardless of the wavelength. Failure to properly achieve this performance can generate unacceptable crosstalk, directing images to the wrong eye and reducing the quality of the stereoscopic effect. This type of crosstalk effect can even be physically disturbing to the viewer, in some cases. Thus, by comparison, LCOS-based projectors are advantaged in that the output is typically already polarized in most configurations.
A continuing problem with illumination efficiency relates to etendue or, similarly, to the Lagrange invariant. As is well known in the optical arts, etendue relates to the amount of light that can be handled by an optical system. Potentially, the larger the etendue, the brighter the image. Numerically, etendue is proportional to the product of two factors, namely the image area and the numerical aperture. In terms of the simplified optical system represented in FIG. 2 having light source 12, optics 18, and a spatial light modulator 20, etendue is a product of the light source area A1 and its output angle θ1 and, in a well-matched optical system, this is equal to the product of the modulator area A2 and its acceptance angle θ2. For increased brightness, it is desirable to provide as much light as possible from the area of light source 12. As a general principle, the optical design is advantaged when the etendue at the light source is most closely matched to the etendue at the modulator.
Increasing the numerical aperture, for example, increases etendue so that the optical system captures more light. Similarly, increasing the source image size, so that light originates over a larger area, increases etendue. In order to utilize an increased etendue on the illumination side, the etendue must be greater than or equal to that of the illumination source. Larger image sizes, however, typically result in a more costly system. This is especially true of devices such as LCOS and DLP components, where the silicon substrate and defect potential increase with size. As a general rule, increased etendue results in a more complex and costly optical design. Using a conventional approach such as that outlined in U.S. Pat. No. 5,907,437 (Sprotbery et al.) for example, lens components in the optical system must be designed for large etendue. The source image area for the light that must be converged through system optics is the sum of the combined areas of the spatial light modulators in red, green, and blue light paths; notably, this is three times the area of the final multicolor image formed. That is, for the configuration disclosed in such a conventional approach, optical components handle a sizable image area, therefore a high etendue, since red, green, and blue color paths are separate and must be optically converged. Moreover, although a configuration such as that disclosed in the '437 Sprotbery et al. disclosure handles light from three times the area of the final multicolor image formed, this configuration does not afford any benefit of increased brightness, since each color path contains only one-third of the total light level.
Efficiency improves when the etendue of the light source is well-matched to the etendue of the spatial light modulator. Poorly matched etendue means that the optical system is either light-starved, unable to provide sufficient light to the spatial light modulators, or inefficient, effectively discarding a substantial portion of the light that is generated for modulation.
The goal of providing sufficient brightness for digital cinema applications at an acceptable system cost has eluded designers of both LCD and DLP systems. LCD-based systems have been compromised by the requirement for polarized light, reducing efficiency and increasing etendue, even where polarization recovery techniques are used. DLP device designs, not requiring polarized light, have proven to be somewhat more efficient, but still require expensive, short lived lamps and costly optical engines, making them too expensive to compete against conventional cinema projection equipment.
In order to compete with conventional high-end film-based projection systems and provide what has been termed electronic or digital cinema, digital projectors must be capable of achieving comparable cinema brightness levels to this earlier equipment. As some idea of scale, the typical theatre requires on the order of 10,000 lumens projected onto screen sizes on the order of 40 feet in diagonal. The range of screens requires anywhere from 5,000 lumens to upwards of 40,000 lumens. In addition to this demanding brightness requirement, these projectors must also deliver high resolution (2048×1080 pixels) and provide around 2000:1 contrast and a wide color gamut.
Some digital cinema projector designs have proved to be capable of this level of performance. However, high equipment cost and operational costs have been obstacles. Projection apparatus that meet these requirements typically cost in excess of $50,000 each and utilize high wattage Xenon arc lamps that need replacement at intervals between 500-2000 hours, with typical replacement cost often exceeding $1000. The large etendue of the Xenon lamp has considerable impact on cost and complexity, since it necessitates relatively fast optics to collect and project light from these sources.
One drawback common to both DLP and LCOS LCD spatial light modulators (SLM) has been their limited ability to use solid-state light sources, particularly laser sources. Although they are advantaged over other types of light sources with regard to relative spectral purity and potentially high brightness levels, solid-state light sources require different approaches in order to use these advantages effectively. Conventional methods and devices for conditioning, redirecting, and combining light from color sources, used with earlier digital projector designs, can constrain how well laser light sources are used.
Solid-state lasers promise improvements in etendue, longevity, and overall spectral and brightness stability but, until recently, have not been able to deliver visible light at sufficient levels and at costs acceptable for digital cinema. In a more recent development, laser arrays have been commercialized and show some promise as potential light sources. However, brightness itself is not yet high enough; the combined light from as many as nine individual arrays can be needed in order to provide the necessary brightness for each color.
Laser arrays of particular interest for projection applications include various types of VCSEL arrays, including VECSEL (Vertical Extended Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser) and NECSEL (Novalux Extended Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser) devices from Novalux, Sunnyvale, Calif. However, conventional solutions using these devices have been prone to a number of problems. One limitation relates to device yields. Due largely to heat and packaging problems for critical components, the commercialized VECSEL array is extended in length, but limited in height; typically, a VECSEL array has only two rows of emitting components. The use of more than two rows tends to increase yield difficulties dramatically. In addition, conventional VECSEL designs are prone to difficulties with power connection and heat sinking. These lasers are of high power; for example, a single row laser device, frequency doubled into a two row device by Novalux, produces over 3 W of usable light. Thus, there can be significant current requirements and heat load from the unused current. Lifetime and beam quality is highly dependent upon stable temperature maintenance.
Coupling of the laser sources to the projection system presents another difficulty that is not adequately addressed using conventional approaches. For example, using Novalux NESEL lasers, approximately nine 2 row by 24 laser arrays are required for each color in order to approximate the 10,000 lumen requirement of most theatres. It is desirable to separate these sources, as well as the electronic delivery and connection and the associated heat from the main thermally sensitive optical system to allow optimal performance of the projection engine. Other laser sources are possible, such as conventional edge emitting laser diodes. However, these are more difficult to package in array form and traditionally have a shorter lifetime at higher brightness levels.
As noted earlier, increased etendue results in a more complex and more costly optical design. In general, the best performance and lowest cost are obtained when the etendue is small and is well-matched between the illumination optics and the light modulator. Conventional stereoscopic projection systems using polarized light tend to double the etendue in order to project light of both polarization states over the same optical path. It would be beneficial to provide a stereoscopic projector that used polarized light to differentiate left- from right-eye images, but with reduced etendue over previous designs.
Thus, it can be seen that the challenge of providing a stereoscopic color projection system having cinema or near-cinema performance and brightness has not been met using conventional approaches. There is a need for a stereoscopic projector that provides reduced etendue and improved brightness with solid-state light sources.